Let There Be Peace On Earth
by Sakura Starwind
Summary: A story describing how Lucrezia Noin became a soldier and what part her father played in her decision ... Please R&R!


"Riff!" Lucrezia shouted, cupping her mitten hands around her mouth as she called down the trail to her brother. "Riiiff, he's coming!" Violet eyes shown excitedly as she lowered her hands, practically jumping up and down in her impatience. Long black pigtails whipped around her face as the six- year-old spun to look the other way, watching the tiny shape of the ATV heading in her direction. "Riff!" she wailed again plaintively - she had strict orders from her mother not to pass beyond the tree beside her without her older brother's accompaniment.  
  
"Hang on, Luc, I'm commin'!" her brother shouted back as he came trotting up the trail, snow boots kicking up a spray of slush as he went. "He's gotta come past here anyway, ya know," he reminded her irritably as he stopped at her side.  
  
"I know, but I don't want to wait that long!" Lucrezia whined impatiently, seizing her brother's hand in her marginally smaller one and tugging him forward. With an exasperated sigh, he caved in and followed. Truth be known, he was just as anxious as she - but a mature twelve-year- old such as himself was beyond such childish displays of impatience, especially when with his younger sister.  
  
"Oww, Luc, slow down - you're gonna pull my arm right out of its socket!"  
  
Lucrezia stuck her tongue out at him cutely. "Oh, Riff, look! Here he comes!" Both children stopped as the forest green ATV rolled to a halt before them. The passenger door opened and a tall, handsome man stepped out, with dark black hair cut fairly short and warm, friendly brown eyes. His face lit up with a brilliant smile when he spotted the two children.  
  
"Dadiiieee!" Lucrezia screeched, sprinting around the front of the vehicle to launch herself into the man's arms. He laughed as he lifted her up and spun her around once, hugging her fiercely and rejoicing in the sound of her childish laughter.  
  
"My little Lucrezia's not so little anymore!" he chuckled, setting her back down on her feet. Riff approached then, trying to act dignified despite the excitement dancing in his dark brown eyes. "There's my Tony!" the man greeted his son warmly, reaching out a hand to muss the boy's chestnut hair. "How are ya, Junior?"  
  
"It's not 'Junior' anymore, Daddy," Lucrezia giggled, a mischievous smile on her face. "He wants to be called 'Riff' now."  
  
"Ahh, Riff, is it?" His son nodded shyly. Antonio just laughed and hugged both his children tightly. "I've missed you both so much!"  
  
"Hey, Commander - I've got to be getting' back," the driver of the ATV reminded gently from within the vehicle.  
  
"Right - sorry, Lieutenant." He stood, straightening his uniform jacket with one absent tug before reaching behind his seat to retrieve his two green duffel bags.  
  
"I'll be back in three days to pick you up, right, Sir?"  
  
"Right. Thanks, Sanders - merry Christmas."  
  
"You too, Commander Noin." The driver offered an informal salute, which was returned, and then the ATV u-turned and rumbled back the way it had come.  
  
"Merry Christmas to the both of you as well," Tony smiled down at his children as he shouldered the two bags.  
  
"Daaaady, you're a day early!" Lucrezia giggled as she slipped her hand into one of his.  
  
"Oooh, so I guess that means you want to wait for your presents, eh?" He arched an eyebrow at her.  
  
"PRESANTS?!" the little girl exclaimed, eyes gone wide. "What did you bring?!"  
  
"Guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see."  
  
"Daddy!" The look he received was nothing short of indignant.  
  
"All right, all right - I suppose I can let you have them a day early," he grinned.  
  
"Hear that, Riff? We get presents and Daddy's come home! This is going to be the best Christmas ever!"  
  
"I can hear, I've got ears," he informed her, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Yes, but what of your tongue? You haven't said a word to me since I arrived!" Tony pointed out.  
  
Riff blushed. He had been so busy trying to stand up tall next to his father's superior height that he'd forgotten about conversation. "That's a different uniform then you had on last time, Dad," he blurted out. There, that sounded pretty grown-up.  
  
Tony glanced down at his jacket and smiled. It was high-necked, with a black collar complete with gold embroidering. The jacket itself was predominantly red, with a button-up flap across the chest, gold-colored shoulder pads and tassels, and long sleeves that ended in a strip of black at the cuff and a thin band of gold embroidery separating the black from the red. The buttons were gold as well, and the lapels of the coat where they folded down around the black collar were outlined in gold trim. Otherwise he wore white uniform pants and tall black boots that reached up to his knees, with white dress gloves to complete the militaristic look. All in all, it was a handsome uniform.  
  
"I've been promoted," he smiled.  
  
Riff's self-imposed calmness almost broke as he asked eagerly, "Are you a pilot, Dad?"  
  
"Yes, son, I'm a pilot," Tony laughed. The expression on Riff's face had taken on that of hero worship. "C'mon guys, we better be getting back before your mother beats me for keeping the two of you out here in the cold. Just where is your mother, anyway?"  
  
"Inside cooking a special dinner!" Lucrezia chirped up once again. "She's making all sorts of yummy things! We're going to have a feast tonight!" She beamed.  
  
"That sounds wonderful! Hey - I'll race the two of you home! Ready?"  
  
"Heey, that's not fair!" his daughter protested.  
  
"All right, Luc - you get a head-start. Ready . Set . Go!" The girl took off, looking not unlike a drunken Eskimo as she trundled along in her chunky snow boots and over-stuffed winter jacket. Antonio smiled - God, but he had missed his family. This was the first time he'd been home in almost two years.  
  
"I think that's a good enough lead for her. Ready?" Tony turned towards his son. Riff grinned and nodded, and the two shot off down the dirt path - a highly respectable United Earth Sphere Alliance commanding officer in full dress uniform racing after his children through the snow, the rare music of his laughter echoing in the soft December twilight.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"That was the best tasting meal I've ever had," Tony decided, lying down his napkin and grinning across the table at his wife.  
  
Maria just shook her head, dark blue eyes shinning as she teased, "You say that every time you come home. I don't think it matters what I serve - I could feed you cardboard and you'd tell me it was the best meal you've ever eaten. Personally, I say it's the company you keep. Anything tastes good when you're with loved ones."  
  
Tony passed his infectious smile around the table to the kids. "Well, if that be true, then it's no wonder everything tastes so great - a man couldn't want for better company." Lucrezia and Riff both grinned in response, happy just to be with their father again.  
  
"Well, why don't you kids go and get changed for bed while your father and I clear the table, hmm? Then we can open presents." At this promise, Lucrezia's eyes went wide and she bolted from the room, nearly upsetting her chair in the process. Riff made a more dignified exit, pausing to push in his chair - and his sister's, for that matter - before thanking his mother graciously for dinner and leaving the room at a stately pace.  
  
"What's gotten into him?" Tony asked softly when he was gone and they had begun to clean up.  
  
"You told him before you left last time that he was the man of the house, in charge of looking out for Lucrezia and I while you were gone. However you meant it, Tony, he took it very seriously. He wants so badly for you to be proud of him."  
  
"Of course I'm proud of him! He doesn't need to act four times his age for me to be, either."  
  
"You need to tell him that. Tony - he wants to be an M.S. pilot." There was a sudden fear in her eyes, a slight catch in her voice.  
  
Tony looked at her, understanding. "I'll talk to him, Maria, tell him he's needed here."  
  
"He's already old enough to enter the academy at Lake Victoria - has been for two years. I've held him back, but for how much longer? And now you're a pilot. Tony, you promised me you weren't going to fight."  
  
"I know, Maria - but all the new prototypes have already been tested in space, they all work now. They don't need zero gravity test pilots anymore."  
  
"If they don't need you, then why don't you just come home? You've done your duty as a citizen of Earth - let someone else take a turn."  
  
"They do need me - they need me on the field. Maria, they're in desperate need of experienced pilots out there. You've seen the mobile suits, they are enormous, complex weapon systems - it takes years to train a good pilot in one of them. That's what academies like Lake Victoria are trying to do, but we don't have those years to take. They're sending out raw recruits to the battlefield, and they're being slaughtered like raw recruits. Besides, the Alliance thinks that the colonies are soon going to take the war to outer space, the their home front where they think they'll have an advantage. But with our new operations base on the moon, and the space prototype of our Leo-class mobile suit, it is us that'll have the advantage. If someone can train our troops to fight in zero gravity. I can do that. They need me to do that."  
  
Maria was silent for a moment. At last, she said quietly, "I know I can't change your mind on this, Tony. But please - don't expect me to give up my only son to this cause, too."  
  
"I'll talk to him, Maria. You have my word."  
  
"Daddy!" Lucrezia's voice called from the living room, "Are you done yet? C'mon, we gotta hurry and open presents before Santa gets here!"  
  
The children made short work of their gifts; dolls from France, chocolate from Switzerland, even rocks from the moon - little things that Tony had been able to pick up at various bases over the years. It wasn't until afterwards, though, as he watched the kids playing amongst the carnage of wrapping paper that he decided to give his most special gift of all.  
  
"Luc, get your coat for a minute and put your shoes on - I want to show you something." She shot him a questioning look, but hurried to obey.  
  
"What are you doing?" Maria asked softly from where she sat next to him on the couch.  
  
"Just something between Luc and I. Don't worry, I won't let her catch pneumonia." He smiled.  
  
When Luc came back into the room all bundled up, Tony shrugged his own woolen army coat over his shoulders and scooped his daughter into his arms before stepping outside.  
  
Lucrezia clung to her father's neck as he carried her up the hill and out a ways, to a little clearing along a rocky overhang. It was a place the two of them knew well, their very own stargazing point. They had spent many a summer night right here, chasing fireflies and waltzing to the tuneless whistling of the wind and the melody of their carefree laughter. It was where, when Lucrezia got to missing him terribly while he was gone, she would come and lie in the tall, thick grass, look up at the stars, and feel close to her hero again. Tony had always harbored a love and fascination for space, a singular appreciation for its ethereal beauty and mystery. It was a love he had fostered I his daughter from her earliest recollection, a universal symbol of comfort that pulled them closer together in spite of a world that tried to tear them so far apart. The ravaging atrocities of the war couldn't find them here - it was the perfect refuge for a battle-weary soldier who desired nothing more then to hide behind the innocent laughter of his beautiful little girl.  
  
The two of them would lie on their backs and gaze at the heavens for hours while Tony pointed out the constellations that he knew and made up ones that he didn't. Each of the shinning pictures had a story behind them, most of them created on the spot to feed the growing imagination of his daughter. And tonight, he had a very special story to tell.  
  
"Luc, do you see that star over there? The green-ish one, above the handle of the Big Dipper." He shifted her weight to one arm so he could point.  
  
Lucrezia squinted a little up at the stunningly clear sky, her deep violet gaze carefully searching through the night's elusive trove of gems. "I see it," she breathed after a moment, her breath smoking in the cold. Her wandering eyes fixated steadily on one point, and he was sure she had found it. "I don't remember one that color, Daddy," she added, voice filled with wonder.  
  
"No. I think it's a pretty new one," he agreed. "The first time I saw it I was on the moon. Oh, you should see it from way up there, Luc - it looks like a giant green emerald."  
  
"It's so pretty," she agreed reverently. "I wonder why we never saw it before?"  
  
"I think I know why," Tony smiled.  
  
"Oh Daddy, tell me!" Luc urged, never taking her eyes from the star.  
  
"All right. The way I figure it, that's not a star at all. It's an angel."  
  
"Angels aren't green!" Lucrezia giggled.  
  
"How do you know? Have you ever seen one?"  
  
"Nooo . but . did it have wings?"  
  
"Yep. Big ones, all spread out so she can hover right there in the sky."  
  
"Really?" her voice was awed.  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"But why is she there, Daddy? Did she get lost on the way to heaven?" Lucrezia frowned at the angel in concern.  
  
"No, she came down from heaven. To watch over the Earth until the war is over."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Why, I flew out to her and asked her, of course."  
  
"Weren't you scared?"  
  
"Nope. She looked so lonely way out there; I thought she might like some company. She was very sad."  
  
"Because she was all alone?"  
  
"Yes, but also because there is so much fighting on Earth."  
  
"How did she find out about the way all the way in heaven?"  
  
"You see, she's a green angel. All green angels watch over Earth. It's their job."  
  
"Well, I'll bet if she came to Earth and told everyone to stop fighting, they would."  
  
Tony chuckled softly. "Well, maybe. But it's not that simple. The people have to want to stop fighting. They have too much anger in their hearts - it's the hatred they feel that makes the angel cry."  
  
"Why do they hate each other? Riff broke my toy horse once, and I got real mad - but he said he was sorry an' got me a new one and that made it all better."  
  
Tony shook his head a little, wondering at her logic. "It's not exactly like that, Luc. These people have been mad at each other for a very long time. And you could see that staying mad at Riff wasn't going to fix your horse. But they don't understand that staying mad at each other won't solve their problems, either. They think that by hurting each other, they can both get what they want."  
  
"They're not very smart people then, Dad." Her voice was serious.  
  
"No, my darling, they're not. That's why they need this little angel to watch over them." He hugged his daughter a little tighter, the gesture so slight she didn't feel it - all right, because he had only meant it to reassure himself.  
  
"What did you tell the angel when you talked to her, Dad?"  
  
"I promised her that I would try and help the people start to head for peace and stop fighting amongst themselves."  
  
"Was she happy then?"  
  
"She felt a little better. But she wanted to do something to repay me for helping her."  
  
"Ooh, what did you ask her for?"  
  
"I asked her to watch over you for me while I'm away."  
  
"Me?" Lucrezia smiled. "I don't need an angel, Daddy, I've got you."  
  
Tony's eyes blurred slightly, and he made a show of looking up at the stars to hide the sudden dampness in his eyes. He swallowed hard and took a moment to collect himself to make sure his voice didn't crack when next he spoke. "Yes my love, but I won't always be here. Sometimes I have to go far away, and I can't watch out for you the way I'd like to. And someday, you're going to have to look out for yourself. But until then, whenever I'm away and you need someone to talk to, or your feel alone or afraid, you can look up at the sky and see that angel. Then maybe you'll remember me and how much I love you."  
  
Lucrezia was too young to understand the conflict that raged within her father, torn between his duty to his planet and his responsibility to his family, but she could pick up on the catch in his voice. She twisted around in his arms to look at him once more. "Daddy, I don't need anything to remember you by. Are you okay?" Her voice was soft, pensive, as she picked up on his agitation.  
  
"How could I not be, when I'm with you?" he hugged her tightly.  
  
"You just sounded sad. Like the angel is."  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am a little sad, like the angel - for the same reason, too. I don't like to see all the people fighting so much. But that's the way of it. What I'm most concerned about is you, you and your brother and your mama. But that little angel there is going to keep an eye on you for me, and remind you about me when I'm gone."  
  
"Forget about what I said earlier, Daddy - I do want an angel to watch over me. She can be my very own guardian angel," Lucrezia added, wanting to please her father.  
  
"Well, you keep an eye on her, too. You can look out for each other. And every night, I want you to say a little prayer and make a little wish on her."  
  
"A wish for the angel?"  
  
"No .. a wish for me. A wish for everyone. I want you to say, every night before you go to sleep, 'Let there be peace on Earth.' Can you do that for me?"  
  
Lucrezia nodded, then was silent for a moment, obviously thinking it over. Finally, she asked, "Daddy? If there's peace, will you come home? To stay?"  
  
"Yes, darling. Yes, I would."  
  
"Then I won't forget. I'll say it every night; I won't ever forget to say it. You can count on me," she said fiercely.  
  
"I know I can." The two were silent for a moment, each contemplating the beautiful green star.  
  
"Daddy?" Lucrezia whispered softly after a while.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"This is the best Christmas present, ever. Even better then the dolls and the candy. Thank you." Her voice was so solemn for her young years, and for a minute all Tony could do was stare at her. "I love you, Daddy," she added quietly into his silence, her heart and soul in her bright eyes.  
  
The tears Tony had been holding back flooded his eyes, and he pulled his daughter fiercely against him. "I love you too, Lucrezia - I love you so much. Whatever else happens, I pray to God you never forget that."  
  
Lucrezia shook herself clear of the memory, misty violet eyes blinking back into focus. Cool starlight bathed her upturned face as she gazed up at the heavens, a soft breeze blowing her long black bangs across her forehead. She hugged her textbooks tight against her chest, shivering a little as she began to back up towards the steps of the building behind her. It was Christmas Eve, but the students at Lake Victoria were still trotting across the snow-strewn courtyard to get from class to class. The seventeen-year- old shook her head ruefully; there was never a break for the military's brightest. Thankfully, she had already completed her last class for the night.  
  
She turned to look at the barracks behind her, hesitated for a moment, and then began to head in the opposite direction. She wasn't sure where she was headed, just allowed her feet to take her where they willed, and she ended up around the side of the farthest building near the training grounds. There was a mobile suit parked at the edge of the field, an older model that had seen the end of its fighting days and now stood as a silent memorial to the students of Victoria that had died fighting in the war. She headed toward it, boots crunching across the frosted grass and serving as the loudest sound in the quiet night.  
  
The mobile suit actually looked like no more then a giant robot. Had the weapon been standing at it's full height, Lucrezia would have stood no taller then its gigantic metal foot. It had been left here in a kneeling position, however, one leg bent beside it and the other against the ground. It was easy for her to climb up the side and settle on the massive shoulder, a perfect vantage point to resume her study of the stars.  
  
It had been exactly eleven years ago tonight that her father had 'given' her that strange green star for Christmas. She could see it now, a little duller then she remembered it being then, but still shinning its light ever so patiently down on the Earth. Antonio Noin had only made it home for one more Christmas Eve after that night before they had received the terrible news. He had been killed in combat, shot down while trying to save a fellow soldier on the battlefield. Lucrezia could still remember the day, three years ago, when they had found out. Riff had been home for the holidays, already a trained mobile suit pilot out on the battlefield under a brilliant new leader named Treize Kushranada. He had gone insane, throwing things across the room before stalking outside to vent his anger on the silent trees and drifts of snow. Their mother had just closed her eyes, tears leaking from the corners softly, and shook her head before making an effort to collect herself. Lucrezia had decided on that day to apply at Lake Victoria.  
  
Her mother had been against it, of course. She had never really forgiven Riff for going off himself, and she did everything in her power to change the mind of her headstrong daughter. But all Lucrezia could think about was her father's grand dream for Peace. And the more she thought over the words he had spoken to her all those years ago, the more convinced she became that her father would want her to fight for peace and continue the push for his dream.  
  
"I haven't forgotten, Dad," she murmured softly into the night. "I know you're up there, somewhere, watching out for me. And I'll make you proud, Father - I promise."  
  
"Talking to ghosts, Noin?" a voice called up to her from down on the ground. Lucrezia started, so surprised that she almost fell off the mobile suit. Drawing her legs up beneath her, she slid closer to the edge of the shoulder to peer down at her addresser. Another Victoria cadet stood there staring up at her, a fellow class mate of her's, tall and slender of build with long blonde hair that stirred in the breeze and bright, piercing sapphire blue eyes. Her arch nemesis, as a matter of fact. It was so secret that she and he were the brightest students in their senior class, battling it out for first graduation honors and the only real competition to each other in any of their class exercises. Zechs Merquise.  
  
"No, not ghosts - just my father."  
  
"Brussels is a little far from Italy, Noin - I don't think he's going to hear you," Zechs commented archly as Lucrezia began to climb down.  
  
She waited until she was back on the ground before making a respond. "Maybe, but Brussels and Italy are both the same distance from heaven." She took a moment to brush snow off of her pants before heading back towards the barracks. Zechs fell into step beside her, matching his long strides to her marginally shorter ones out of habit.  
  
"Your father is dead?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah. He was a mobile suit pilot - he died during a battle a few years ago." She prided herself on managing to keep her voice calm, neutral, and unconcerned.  
  
"I'm sorry, Noin. I had no idea." She nodded, and they continued on in silence.  
  
"I . I lost my father a few years ago, too," he added after a moment's hesitation. She turned her head to look at him, smiling gently. It had a better effect then any words ever could have. It was strange, how such a tragedy could bring two people closer together. They had never really hated each other, but their fierce competition had kept the two of them from becoming friends. That, and the two students were both loners - they had enjoyed their solitude from the other students, for various reasons of their own, and that had included each other. But now, the silence between them was almost companionable.  
  
The two of them finally arrived back at the student barracks. Zechs headed up the stairs, but when he noticed that Lucrezia didn't follow, he stopped and turned back around. She was standing at the end of the sidewalk, face tilted upward, murmuring softly. He began to head back down towards her, slowly, and he just got the last of her words; "And let there be peace on Earth."  
  
"A strange thing for a soldier to wish for on Christmas Eve," he mused softly. She turned back towards him, a sad smile on her face.  
  
"My father's dream. He told me to make that wish every single night, and I never broke that promise yet. He died for what he believed in. I only hope that one day I can live up to his ideals myself."  
  
"You father died fighting for peace? . My father was an ambassador. He .. tried to set up a Pacifist kingdom to protest the war, and .. he was killed for what he believed in. And that's why I'm here. Like you, I suppose." She nodded. "Noin? We actually have off from classes tomorrow, so .. do you want to come up to my room for cocoa or something?" It was a hesitant offer, spoken by a gruff sort of man unused to social invitations. Lucrezia recognized it for what it was; a sort of peace offering . and a gesture of friendship.  
  
/Thank you, Father . it truly was the best Christmas present you've ever given me. / "I'd love to, Zechs," she grinned at him, heading up the stairs. He held the door open for her, and she ducked inside. Before he followed her, though, he turned to look up at the stars.  
  
"It's a lovely dream, that wish for peace," he said softly. "I . I wouldn't mind helping you reach it. If you'd share it."  
  
"It's a universal wish, Zechs, not just mine. But .. of course."  
  
"Then .. Let there be peace on Earth." He smiled, the first real smile she had seen on his stoic face. "Come on . it's getting cold out here." And the two cadets - Victoria's brightest hope for the planet's future - ducked inside together, friends united under a common dream that they recognized as greater then the war outside, greater then their differences . and greater then themselves. 


End file.
